Nasa images capture growth of Antarctic sea ice

This is attributed to a strong El Nino event causing the surface waters of the equatorial Pacific ocean to warm, affecting sea levels and temperatures, and thus ice distribution, in the Antarctic.

This year's 6 October peak is unusually late, compared to the mean average peak date of 23 September. Walt Meier, a sea ice scientist at the Goddard Space Flight Center, said that "there may be more high years in the future because of the large year-to-year variation in Antarctic extent, but such extremes are not near as substantial as in the Arctic, where the declining trend towards a new normal is continuing."